I Will Be Their God, and They Will Be My People

By Stan Feldsine - www.tojesusbeallglory.com

A Marriage Covenant

Ancient Legal Terminology

The term "I will be your God, and they will be my people" is generally recognized as "the covenant formula". This formula is derived from ancient legal terminology, specifically regarding the marriage ceremony.

The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable - Eze 11:19-20)

""The term berit [covenant] is absent, but in the declaration They will become my people, and I will become their God, the reader is introduced for the first time to what is generally known as 'the covenant formula.' Derived from ancient legal terminology, specifically the marriage ceremony, this formula expresses a relationship of commitment and intimacy. It's prominence in both Ezekiel and Jeremiah is based on a long history, beginning with Yahweh's commitment to be the God of Abraham and his descendants (Gen_17:7-8)." [Note: Block, The Book . . ., p. 354.] "

In marriage "the two become one flesh". Throughout scripture, God's declaration of being their God and they being His people is His statement of intent to have an intimate "one flesh" relationship with them.

Gen 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

One Flesh

Paul picks up on this as a type of God and the church. This shows the eventual goal of a "one flesh" relationship not only with Israel, but with the Gentiles who become a part of His body.

Eph 5:31-32 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." (32) This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Col 1:25-27 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- (26) the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. (27) To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Joh 17:20-23 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (21) that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (22) I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one-- (23) I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

1Jn 4:12-13 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (13) This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.

These passages show that God's intent through the ages was and is to live within Jew and Gentile alike as one (Col 1:25-27).

One Flesh with Israel

God's plan for Israel, to be their God, and they His people, was that Israel would be a light to the nations to bring them into relationship with God as well. The out working of this intent on God's part began at Mt. Sinai with the Israelites.

Exo 6:7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Exo 19:5-6 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, (6) you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

Isa 42:6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,

Isa 49:6 he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

Act 26:22-23 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen-- (23) that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles."

Israel's Rejection

One Flesh with Israel (Cont.)

In (Gen 17:7-8) God says the the purpose of the Abrahamic Covenant was "to be your God and the God of your descendants after you".

Gen 17:7-8 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. (8) The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

The presentation of the Marriage Covenant was on Mt. Sinai about two to three months after the Israelites had been freed from Egyptian slavery.

Exo 6:6-8 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. (7) I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. (8) And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"

God's intent was to make them kingdom of priests. Each individual Israelite would be a priest to those around them bringing unbelievers to the knowledge of God, aka bring a light to the Gentiles.

Exo 19:5-6 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, (6) you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

Israel Rejects One Flesh Relationship

Israel failed in this mission, and the reason they failed is their rejection of Him who would have given them the power to be priests. They resisted the Holy Spirit, and turned to idolatry instead.

Israel Asks For a Mediator

Moses records the actual response of the Israelites:

Exo 20:18-19 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance (19) and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

Deu 5:4-5 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. (5) (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) ....

Deu 5:24-27 And you said, "The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. (25) But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. (26) For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? (27) Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey."

Jeremiah looks back at the Exodus from Egypt and sheds light on what God's intent was at that time, "I will be their God, and they will be my people", and the Israelite response.

Jer 7:22-24 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, (23) but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. (24) But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

Stephen also looked back at this event and reflected on their resistance of the Holy Spirit when he said:

Act 7:51 "You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

God's One Flesh Offer Put On Hold

God is the same yesterday as today. It is clear reading through the history of the Israelites that they had rejected God's offer to be their God, and they to be His people and forfeited the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Throughout scripture, there is a unmistakable and direct connection between "I will be your God, and you will be my people" and the indwelling Spirit. Notice the connection in these passages which are now referred to as a provision of the "New" Covenant.

Eze 11:19-20 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. (20) Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 36:26-28 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (28) Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Eze 37:26-27 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. (27) My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Zec 8:8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God."

Heb 8:10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The Indwelling Spirit is Present For the Church

The term "I will be their God, and they will be my people" has great meaning. Paul explains the application of the term, and what it means for us today. He clearly associates "I will be their God and they will be my people" with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

2Co 6:16 "... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

Paul is corroborating Ezekiel when he said:

Eze 37:27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The Consequence of Israel's Rejection

The original intent of the Mosaic Covenant then cannot be anything less than God's desire to put the Spirit of God inside the individual Israelite by which they would become a nation of priests and mediators between God and man. They failed in this mission, the source of which was their rejection at Mt. Sinai to come near to God. Through disobedience to go up the mountain to meet Him, and by asking for a mediator between themselves and God, they fell short of God's plan to place his Holy Spirit in them.

Exo 20:18-21 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance (19) and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." (20) Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." (21) The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Deu 5:22-27 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. (23) When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. (24) And you said, "The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. (25) But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. (26) For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? (27) Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey."

A Mediator Granted (Moses)

God did not reject the Israelites because of this however, and agreed to satisfy their request to have a mediator stand between them and God.

Exo 20:18-19 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance (19) and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

Deu 5:24-27 And you said, "The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. (25) But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. (26) For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? (27) Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey."

A Mediator Promised (Jesus)

While God agreed to allow Moses to be a mediator, He also promised that at some point in the future, another mediator would come, and when that mediator arrived, the Israelites were to listen to Him. This mediator was none other than Jesus Christ at His first advent, a fellow Israelite.

Deu 18:15-18 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. (16) For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." (17) The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. (18) I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

The Law of Moses Given

It was the Israelites request that brought about the occasion of God giving to Moses the commands, decrees, and laws.

Exo 20:21-22 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. (22) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:

Deu 5:28-31 The LORD heard you when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, "I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. (29) Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! (30) "Go, tell them to return to their tents. (31) But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess."

The Tabernacle

The Tabernacle was one of the provisions that resulted from Israel's resistance of the Holy Spirit. The construction of a Tabernacle was for the purpose of providing a dwelling place for God, where He could be among His people, but not in them. The instruction to construct a tabernacle is itself strong evidence showing the consequence of Israel's resistance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would not indwell the Israelites, but rather, He would be among them in the tabernacle. Today, as would have been the case then, there is no need for a Tabernacle or Temple, because individuals are the temple of God.

2Co 6:16 "... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

The Provision of Mosaic Law

The Law a Tutor

In the absence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Israel was given a guardian, or tutor to provide instruction that the Holy Spirit would have otherwise provided. Paul explains why the law was given:

Gal 3:19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.

This verse is linked inextricably to the rejection of the Holy Spirit at Mt. Sinai. It was at Mt. Sinai that the law was given, and it was at Mt. Sinai that the law was entrusted to the mediator. This verse refers to Deu 5:31, in which God tells Moses (the mediator) to remain so He can give Him the law. The Israelites failed to be a party to God's statement, "I will be their God, and they will be my people". They stayed back in fear, requested a mediator, and received the law. And God lived among them in the Tabernacle but not in them.

Deu 5:31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess."

The Law vs. The Spirit

The role of the Mosaic Law was teacher, convictor and guide for the Israelites, and that is the very role of the Holy Spirit, whom they were lacking. The instruction the Holy Spirit provides is teaching in all things, conviction of sin and guidance into all truth.

Joh 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

Joh 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

The written law came about because of the Israelites rejection of the one who would teach them, convict them, and guide them, and became their tutor until the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all flesh.

The Law of Moses was Temporal

Further support for the temporal nature of the Mosaic Law is given in several passages. Mosaic Law was given "until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come". Jesus, buy His death, burial and resurrection cleared the way for the Holy Spirit to indwell us.

Rom 10:4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Joh 16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Gal 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

It is because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us that both Jews and Gentiles are now realizing the fulfillment of "I will be their God, and they will be my people".

2Co 6:16 "... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

The Provision of Holy Spirit

Future National Israel Given the Holy Spirit

National Israel, the ones who as a nation rejected the Holy Spirit, and later their Messiah, have yet to realize Christ in them. National Israel today remains a primarily secular people, and secondarily a religious people who is continuing in their rejection of Jesus as Messiah. But the nation is promised by God that this will not be a permanent condition.

Consider the New Covenant, who's fulfillment remains in the future:

Jer 31:31-33 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. (32) It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. (33) "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

This prophecy of the New Covenant is made with Israel, that they will be God's, and God will be theirs. This is a future prophecy, yet to be fulfilled.

Jer 31:34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Jer 32:37-42 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. (38) They will be my people, and I will be their God. (39) I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. (40) I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. (41) I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. (42) "This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.

Israel will yet receive the promise of the Holy Spirit:

Rom 11:11-12 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. (12) But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

The original promise made to Israel in the Abrahamic Covenant that they would be priests (mediators), and a holy nation will finally come to pass in the Messianic Kingdom.

Exo 19:5-6 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, (6) you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

The Holy Spirit Given to the Church

If the New Covenant is yet future, then how does is the church benefiting from the Holy Spirit's presence today? Israel's rejection meant riches for the Gentiles through the Abrahamic Promise that Abraham, through his Seed, would be a blessing to the nations.

Gal 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Eph 3:4-6 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, (5) which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. (6) This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

The church is made up of both Gentiles and believing Israelites (Messianic Jews). Through the church, Gentiles are sharers in the spiritual blessings promised to Israel. Those spiritual blessings are ours through Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. National unbelieving Israel however are still the sole beneficiaries of the physical blessings promised to them of land and physical blessing in the land of being a great nation.

Conclusion

It is this writers understanding that in the days of Moses, soon after their departure from Egypt, Israel had the chance to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit and become one with God. This is referred to in the statement repeated through scripture, "I will be their God, and they will be my people".

When the time came, however, Israel was struck with fear and retreated, asking instead that Moses be a mediator between them and God. God agreed, and instead presented Moses with the Law of Moses, Israel's civil and ceremonial law. The Law of Moses would govern Israel as a tutor until the second tutor and mediator would come, and that tutor / mediator would be Jesus. Israel again rejected God. But God in His mercy and grace provided the Holy Spirit on the bases of individual faith. Upon Jesus's resurrection and Ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to His body, the church, who became indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

The nation of Israel will some day accept Jesus as Messiah, and the Holy Spirit, repenting for theirs and their ancestors rejection of Him, and at that time "all Israel will be saved" and the Holy Spirit will be poured out on them. They will receive a new spirit and a heart of flesh (Eze 11:19).

The Mosaic Law in Perspective

Among Christians today there is a growing movement that believes the Mosaic Law is still applicable to believers today. The people that make up this movement call themselves by different names, although the basic teachings of Two House, Commonwealth, and Renewed Covenant doctrines are common throughout the movement. The movement is called the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) and is also known by the terms Torah Observant, Law Keeping and Torah Keeping movements. Many are sensitive to being identified with these movements and will assert that they are just Jesus followers with no affiliation, but upon questioning, reveal that they do in fact adhere to HRM doctrines whether they know it or not.

 

The purpose of this article is to show that the Mosaic Law had a beginning and an end, and that it is not applicable to believers today. Believers today are under the Law of Christ (Gal 6:2) and the Law of the Spirit (Rom 8:2) through which we are released from the Law of Sin and Death (Rom 8:2).

 

The Initial Offer of One Flesh Through the Indwelling Spirit

 

In Gen 17:7, God promised to Abraham that his descendants that He would be their God. The term "I will be your God, and they will be my people" is generally recognized as "the covenant formula". This formula is derived from ancient legal terminology, specifically regarding the marriage ceremony. In marriage "the two become one flesh" (Gen 2:24), and Paul picks up on this as it is a type of God and the church (Eph 5:31-32). The marriage reference is pointing to God and His people in that "the two will become one flesh" by the indwelling Spirit (Joh 17:20-21, Heb 13:20-21, Jas 4:5, 1Jn 3:24, 1 Jn 4:12-13).

 

In Exo 6:7, God repeats his promise to the descendants of Abraham.

 

In Exo 19:5-6 we see a reference to this again in the term "a treasured possession".

 

In 2 Cor 6:16, Paul reveals that the promise to "be your God" and for the Israelites to "be His people" was a reference to their being indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

 

The offer on Sinai was a marriage covenant, through which the Israelites would have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who is the only means through which circumcision of heart could occur.

 

The Rejection of the Offer

 

In Exo 20:18-21 we read that the Israelites refused the offer, stayed at a distance and asked for a mediator to stand between them and their God. This is corroborated in Deu 5:4-5, and Jer 7:22-24. It is further corroborated in Act 7:51.

 

The promise given to Abraham that Israel would be greatly blessed was postponed when they resisted the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who would have brought the promise to realization in their hearts. Sinai was a "marriage covenant", an indwelling that the Israelites rejected.

 

The Book of the Covenant

 

It is only after this rejection of the marriage proposal that we read of written law, and that law that is written is given to Moses to be relayed to the Israelites as their mediator.

 

From Exo 20:22 to Exo 24:4 we read what God tells Moses to tell the Israelites as a result of the failed marriage proposal. In Exo 24:7 the Israelites receive the Book of the Covenant, and declare that they will do everything in it. But even this is doomed to failure.

 

The Book of the Law of Moses

 

In Exo 32:1-9 we read that the Israelites not only didn't do everything in the Book of the Covenant, but they rebelled against God with the Golden Calf. As a result of this, the Israelites received the Levitical Law (Books of Leviticus, as well as additional law in parts of Deuteronomy and Numbers).

 

In Deu 31:24-26 we read that the sum of the law given to the Israelites at this time is called the Book of the Law. Joshua later referred to this as "The Book of the Law of Moses". (Jos 8:31).

 

The Requirement of Circumcision of Heart

 

Throughout this period of time, God reminds the Israelites that His divine requirement for them was always circumcision of heart (Lev 26:41, Deu 10:16, Deu 30:6, Jer 4:4, Act 7:51, Rom 2:29). Circumcision of heart is referred to in the NT as regeneration (Tit 3:5), renewal (Eph 4:23), and transformation (Rom 12:2) brought about by the Holy Spirit.

 

Being aware of the failure of the Israelites to accept the marriage covenant at Sinai, and recognizing that the Law of Moses was insufficient to bring about circumcision of heart in national Israel, Jeremiah foretold of the future pouring out of the Spirit (Act 2:17-18) when the law would be written on our hearts (Jer 31:31-33). cf. (Eze 11:19, Eze 36:26). The writing of the law on our hearts is not a transcription of the written word, but a transformation of heart by the Holy Spirit.

 

The Israelites had refused the Holy Spirit, and refused circumcision of heart all the way through till the time of Jesus (Act 7:51).

 

The End of the Mosaic Law

 

As we look at the end of the Mosaic Law, the preceding commentary is critical to keep in mind. 

 

The only means of circumcision of heart (aka transformation, renewal, regeneration) in the Old or the New Covenant is by the inner work of the Holy Spirit bring change to our minds. The Israelites had rejected the marriage covenant, and resisted the Holy Spirit (Act 7:51). It is because of the resistance of the Holy Spirit that the Law of Moses was given, and everything in the Old and New Covenants points to it's replacement upon the institution of the New Covenant (Heb 7:12, Heb 8:7-13). The New Covenant is the covenant that Jeremiah and Ezekiel speak of, and Paul corroborates, and is the Covenant under which all believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Under the New Covenant, God fulfilled the marriage agreement through the pouring out of the Spirit, thus eliminating the reason that the law was given in the first place, resistance of the Holy Spirit.

 

Mosaic Law was given to Israel through their mediator Moses because when they resisted the Holy Spirit, a guardian or tutor was required. That is the specific time period for the Mosaic Law, from Sinai to Christ.

 

Jesus states in Luk 16:16 that the Mosaic Law was proclaimed until John.

 

Paul supports Jesus when he says in Gal 3:24 that the Mosaic Law is a guardian until Christ.

 

Paul states in 2 Cor 3:6-8 that the Mosaic Law is temporary.

 

Some special notice must be taken of Mat 5:17-18 which is a favorite of the HRM in which they try to prove that Mosaic Law will in no means disappear until the end of time.

 

Israel at the time of Jesus commonly referred to the Tanak (Old Testament) as "The Law and the Prophets". They understood Jesus to be speaking of the entire Tanak. It is an error when HRM limits this to Mosaic Law.

 

When Jesus refers to the Law, He is speaking of it's passing not by destruction, but by fulfillment. A common illustration of the principle is that of the bud and the rose. As the bud passes into the flower, the bud is not destroyed, but everything that was in the bud has come into fulfillment in the flower. Jesus is making the point that the law will pass through fulfillment, not destruction. Applied this illustrates that the law will pass from it's written form of rules and commands (Col 2:20-23, Eph 2:15, Heb 9:10) into a changing of heart through regeneration by the indwelling Spirit spoken of by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jesus and Paul. 

 

Agape Love

 

There are three common Greek words translated "love" in the English bible. "Eros" speaks of erotic love such as that between a husband and wife, "phileo" speaks of brotherly or affectionate love, and "agape" which speaks of an intimate love. It is "agape" which is commonly spoken in the New Testament, and it conveys the deeper meaning of an intimate relation of Christ in us (Col 1:27).

 

Agape love in short is the love of Christ in us, divinely flowing outward to others. This kind of love shows the difference between following commands to love God and love neighbor from that of "phileo" love to a divinely planted love that resides within us. With this in mind, consider the following passage:

 

Rom 13:8-10 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. (9) The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (10) Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

 

The fulfillment of the law spoken of in Mat 5:17-18 is that divine love planted in us. That divine love planted in us is the full realization of the law written on our heart (Jer 31:33), the heart of flesh rather than stone (Eze 11:19, Eze 36:26). The love of Christ in us is the full meaning of the commands to love God and love our neighbor. The command is not to "phileo" God and our neighbor, but the "agape" them. Jesus sought to bring this awareness to Peter in John 21:15-19 when Jesus asked Peter "do you "agape" me" and Peter answers "yes, I 'phileo' you" three times.

 

It is the full presence of Christ in us that is the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law, and it is why we are released from that Mosaic Law. 

 

In Rom 7:6 we read that it is through Christ in us, I.E. through the Spirit that we are released from the Mosaic Law. This release comes through the active association and participation in the death of Christ whereby we also then participate in His resurrection (Rom 6:1-8, Rom 8:11). 

 

In Rom 8:4 we read that the requirements of the law are fulfilled in us who live according to the Spirit.

 

In Rom 10:4 we read that Jesus is the culmination of the Mosaic Law.

 

Repentance in the Old and New Covenants

 

In this discussion I would be remiss not to mention how repentance plays into the Mosaic Law. Most followers of modern day keeping of Mosaic law also adhere to the Hebrew (OT) definition of repentance, "shuvb"). They define the word properly from an OT mindset, and speak of having a radical change of direction, turning away from sin and to righteousness, making a conscious decision to change. This is in keeping with the guidance they had at the time in the OT, which is, the Mosaic Law, and requires obedience on the part of the person repenting in order to receive blessing.

 

But something changed after John (Luk 16:16) and after Christ (Gal 3:24). The Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh (Act 2:17). In the Greek New Testament, a new word for repentance was added, "metanoeo", meaning "to change the mind". 

 

When we see "repentance" in the Old Testament as regards the people, the expectation is that the people will be obedient and change their behavior, and be obedient to the Law of Moses. Remember that as a nation, they had resisted the Holy Spirit, and as a nation generally were on their own.

 

When we see "repentance" in the New Testament, it means that we will yield and submit to the transformative, renewing presence of the Holy Spirit in us to bring about a change of mind (Rom 12:2) from which will come a behavior change.

 

The change in definition between the Hebrew "shuvb" (to turn) and the Greek "metanoeo" (to change the mind) is consistent with the change from the Old to the New Covenant and the New Covenant presence of the Holy Spirit to all people. It is the Holy Spirit that changes minds, and without the Holy Spirit, we are left on our own strength to turn from sin (Rom 8:3-4).

 

Conclusion

 

The Mosaic Law is no longer in effect for those who are in Christ. It was a tutor or guardian for Israel during their time of resisting the Holy Spirit. The time of it's authority ended with Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit poured out on all flesh.

 

HRM adherents argue, perhaps rightfully so, that many Christians understand this to mean that without the law, we are free to do as we wish. But nothing could be further from the truth. Romans 6, 7 and 8 provide the answer to this argument. Christians today are to live to a higher standard, that of identification with Christ in His crucifixion and resurrection. Read Romans 7:6 carefully:

 

Rom 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

 

There is no release from the law without death, personal death for each Christian. We are released from the law by dying to that which once bound us. We can't then freely engage in what used to bind us, sin, and expect to be released from God's law.

 

But neither can those who live by the Spirit, with "agape" love in their heart as the fulfillment of law, and "metanoeo" repentance as a change of mind followed by change of behavior be considered under the law. The change of behavior will follow when we are identified with Christ in His death and resurrection through the process of transformation and regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

Biblical "Works"

Determining the Value of Works.

The value of works is dependent upon the INTENT with which they are performed, and WHO is doing them. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the INTENT of their works. They performed works to gain honor, the best seats in the house, respect, and the position to be called "Rabbis".

Mat_23:5-7 "Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; (6) they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; (7) they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others.

So, we can examine ourselves and determine the qualitative righteousness of our works in part by our INTENT in performing them. If we are looking for status, that is the wrong intent, if we are doing them out of love for others without regard to status, that is right intent.

It is out of the heart the mouth speaks (and the body does). It is out of the heart that the nature of the works is determined, and intent rests in the heart.

Works from the Flesh or the Heart?

In addition to the INTENT which which they are performed, WHO is doing them is perhaps even more important.

The Pharisees were rooted in the flesh or the letter of the law and completely missed "circumcision of the heart" or the spirit of the law. They totally missed the empowering nature of the Holy Spirit, and thus, missed works based on the Holy Spirit's work through them by faith.

2Co_3:2-6 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. (3) You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (4) Such confidence we have through Christ before God. (5) Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (6) He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

You could read this as; “we are not competent in ourselves to claim good works from ourselves, but our good works are from Christ in us”. The Pharisees either did not understand this, or they rejected it. Their lack of circumcision of heart means that they had not removed their fleshly letter of the law so they could see the higher spirit of the law. Their works were done to benefit themselves.

Act_7:51 "You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

It is through our yielded submission to the commands (what God personally tells each of us to do minute by minute, day by day as we listen) of God that accomplishes works that we could not dream of doing ourselves. In this mode of operation, we can only look back and behold the wonder of the Lord and what HE accomplishes (Joh_14:12). We may move our feet, but He guides our steps and we are along for the ride so to speak (Pro_16:9).

These are the works which James speaks of:

Jas_2:17-18 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (18) But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

It is the outworking of the seed of Christ planted in our heart that grows into a mighty tree which bears much fruit.

This is the fruit which determines our destiny in God's Kingdom

2Co_5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The study of 1Co 3 and many other passages clearly shows that our initial salvation is a starting point, from which more and more blessing is added. We cannot loose our salvation through lack of works, only rewards.

1Co_3:12-15 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, (13) their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. (14) If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. (15) If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved--even though only as one escaping through the flames.

To the one who throws open their heart to the Holy Spirit, there is great reward.

We are equipped to do good works

Heb_13:20-21 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, (21) equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This equipping takes the form of gifts of the Spirit. Our exercise of those gifts is one of the primary ways that God uses us to serve the body and the world. Remember it is the Holy Spirit in us that brings those gifts to life so they bear much fruit.

1Co_12:4-7 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. (5) There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. (6) There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (7) Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

The good works will be visible. They are not for us to hide away nor to broadcast, but it is God who will show it

Jas_4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

We should have a humble heart, it is our guide. If God chooses to make our works known, it will be to those with a humble heart.

Our reward from God is in the future.

Mat_6:1-4 "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (2) "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Remember. Jesus is not saying that we should hide our good works, but to do them in His strength, with the right intent, from a humble heart of love for those we are serving, and not for personal gain. When works are done for personal gain, then the reward received for those works is already given here on earth from man. But the reward in heaven, from God is oh so much more valuable!

Dan_12:3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

Rev_19:7-8 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (8) Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.)

Those who make themselves ready, by thirsting and hungering after God's indwelling Holy Spirit, and yielding to the power and work of the Holy Spirit in and through us, will receive Fine linen. We will wear this visible representation of Christ's works through us for all to see.

Take Up Your Cross

I have been a minister at our local county jail in Humboldt County for several years now. Earlier on, I had been ministering in a dorm where there was a high percentage of new inmates each week. As a result, I would bring the message of the gospel each week so that the new attendees would get a basic understanding of Christianity.

One day, after I had been doing this for a couple years, I had a group of perhaps 8 or 9 fellows. I found both myself and the fellows transfixed as the Holy Spirit poured out a profound series of scriptures from memory that constructed a clear understanding of impact of Christ's death and resurrection. Some time later, I wrote all the passages down, and since then I have added slightly to it as illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

The message is essentially an explanation on how to realize Paul's great summary statement that the "word of God in its fullness"..."is Christ in you, the hope of glory".

Col 1:25, 27 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- ... To them [God's people] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

What follows is that message, which I continue to use as a basic template to this day.

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me

In Matthew chapter 10, very shortly after Jesus calls the 12 apostles, He issues to them what must have been a perplexing command. He told them:

Mat 10:38  And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Jesus didn't tell them this once, later in His ministry he emphasizes this again:

Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

A common interpretation of these passages is that following Him in this life will be hard, like carrying a cross around as we lived out our life trying to follow His ways. If we are not willing to work hard in following Him, then we are not worthy of Him. Perhaps the disciples had thoughts like this, of a hard life in the willingness to follow Him. But is this really what Jesus was saying?

The apostles really had no what He was really telling them. They were surely aware that the Romans put people to death by crucifixion, and they had surely had seen the Roman crosses with criminals hanging on them, but what did this have to do with Jesus? We can read late in Luke that the disciples did not understand any of what Jesus was talking about with regards to His death. They had not made the connection between Jesus saying He was going to die and the reality that His death was going to be carried out on a cross, and did not know the implication of that. They surely did not know what Jesus meant when He told them to take up their cross.

Luk 18:31-34 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. (32) He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; (33) they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." (34) The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

The impact of Jesus' command to take up their cross and follow Him must have begun to hit them when they saw Jesus carrying the cross on the Via Dolo Rosa. They may have reacted in horror as they considered that what Jesus had told them to do was to follow Him to His crucifixion. After all, Jesus did tell them twice to take up their cross and follow Him, and here they were seeing Him for the first time with a cross, going to His crucifixion.

Paul's Understanding

What could this mean? The full understanding of what was meant by taking up their cross and following Jesus was not initially available to the disciples. It took some time before the fullness of what Jesus was saying would come to be known. The manner of taking up our cross and following Him was not meant physically, but rather spiritually. It wasn't until years later when Paul was given the revelation and understanding of what all it meant (Gal 1:11-12)  that the true meaning started to come out and be known. Paul hit directly on the meaning of "take up your cross and follow me" when he said:

Gal 2:19-20  ... I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul obviously had not been physically crucified, he was the one writing to the Galatians. Clearly, Paul understood the spiritual meaning behind "take up your cross and follow me" and associated it with "being crucified with Christ".

Paul further identified Jesus' words, "let him deny himself" (Mat 16:24) with "crucified the flesh together with its feelings and desires" in this passage:

Gal 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh together with its feelings and its desires.

What Paul is saying is that taking up our cross and following Jesus means death to our selfish nature with its fleshly feelings and desires. To crucify means to put selfish feelings and desires to death, to throw them away, to put them out of our mind, and to die to them.

Crucified With Christ

But this is easier said than done. No matter how hard we try, we seem powerless to accomplish setting aside selfishness and our fleshly wants and desires. So how is this accomplished?

What follows is a step by step description of how this is worked out in our lives.

James breaks down and explains the problem:

Jas 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desires. (15) Then desire, after it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is brought to completion, gives birth to death.

We see an object of desire
We allow desire to grow to uncontrollable dimensions
We are dragged away by our out of control desire
Out of control desire leads to sin being birthed
Sin leads to spiritual corruption and then to death

This process is actually the path that a man takes when he lives for the flesh, from temptation to death. Our efforts to gain freedom from this process can leave us feeling rather hopeless. All around us we can see people who are living spiritually dead lives. Death is the loss of spiritual life and peace in this life, as Paul explains here:

Rom 8:6 "For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace,".

As hopeless as it may seem to break free from this, Paul helps us keep it in perspective:

1 Cor 10:13 Temptation has not come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will also make a way out together with the temptation, so that you may be able to endure it.

What this means is that if you see people around you that are living peaceful lives there is nothing special about them, for all temptation is common. No one has greater or lessor temptations than other people. You too can experience the same peace that you see others experiencing, for God will provide you "a way out" with the temptation just like everyone else has been provided a "way out" with their temptations.

So what is the first step, where is that doorway that leads to the "way out" from the temptation?

2 Cor 10:3-5 For although we are living in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, (4) for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but powerful to God for the tearing down of fortresses, tearing down arguments (5) and all pride that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

In the explanation that James gave of the problem above, the "way out" is between "seeing the object of desire" and "allowing that desire to grow to uncontrollable dimensions". The "way out" begins with taking the thought of fleshly desire captive when it first occurs. You capture it by recognizing it before it has a chance to grow, holding it up before you and saying, "I see you, you temptation!" and grabbing a hold of it before you get to the point where you take action on it.

OK, so now you have recognized this thought and captured it, now what? The next step is to ask God for help in dealing with it while you have it captured.

Heb 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but who has been tempted in all things in the same way, without sin. (16) Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus has been there, He knows what we are going through, and He has promised mercy and grace, help in our time of need. Our part is to capture the thoughts and bring them to Him. His part is to help us to put the thought to death, if and when we bring it to Him.

The process of capturing thoughts, and bringing them to Jesus so they can be put down is "being crucified with Christ", and is the essence of Jesus' words, "let him deny himself, take up your cross and follow Me."

Now what happens when we bring these thoughts to Jesus? What does Jesus do when we bring thoughts captive to Him? At the moment we bring each thought captive to Jesus, we are calling out to Him and inviting His influence in us, and putting ourself in a position that will allow Him to help us. When we do that, we receive power, and pass from death to life. A "light" shines in our hearts. Paul calls this light in us "treasure in jars of clay"!

2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Cor 4:10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

So the next question to be answered is how does this power come, what form does passing from death to life take?

Resurrection Life Promised

Paul states in this pivotal passage that through "death" comes "life".

Rom 6:6-8 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- (7) because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

The reason Jesus told His disciples, and us to "take up our cross and follow Him" in this way is because if we follow Jesus in His manner of death, then we will also then be able to follow Jesus in His manner of life, the very resurrection life that can bring dead men to life.

Rom 6:4-5 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live a new way of life. (5) For if we have become identified with him in the likeness of his death, certainly also we will be identified with him in the likeness of his resurrection,

These words of Paul teach us that the reason for "denying ourselves", "taking up our cross and following Him", being "crucified with Christ", is because that is the only path to life. It is only through death that life comes. John recorded a metaphor that Jesus related in this discussion of taking up our crosses:

John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

The promise of resurrection life pouring into our lives is brought about through following Christ in His crucifixion.

Resurrection Life Through Transformation

The pragmatic implantation of resurrection life in us is the fulfillment of the promise of the New Covenant. Jeremiah recorded:

Jer 31:33 "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

God is doing the writing, and that writing takes place as we are transformed into Christ's likeness. Ezekiel expands on this by connecting the New Covenant with a new Spirit being placed in us:

Eze 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (See also Eze 11:19)

Quite simply, resurrection life comes through the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

Rom 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

And how does the Holy Spirit come to live in an abiding way inside of us? The Spirit finds room in our hearts as we capture our fleshly thoughts, wants and desires, and bring them to Jesus in our time of need. By doing this, we extend an open invitation, born of our own free will, to the Holy Spirit to come in and live within us. Along with this invitation, we consent to His influence in our minds and hearts so that changes can be brought about by Him. By this we are made into a new creation as He takes off the old man and put on the new man and transformation has its full effect in us.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Eph  4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; (23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds; (24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Tit 3:4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, (5) he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

The work of resurrection life happens in us through no effort of our own, it is entirely the Holy Spirit's work. Our part is to submit and yield, allowing the Holy Spirit to do that work in us by coming to Him and accepting His help.

2 Cor 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Result is Fruit and Assurance of Salvation

The outward expression of the inward transformation by the Holy Spirit is expressed agape love. The expression of love for our neighbor is the opposite of the pursuit of selfish fleshly wants and desires.

Agape love is associated with divine revelation, and is an overcoming love that is planted into us by the Spirit. Agape love is powerful, and has some of the same nature as light. In the same way that light dispels darkness, so to does agape love dispel darkness. In the same way that darkness cannot overpower light, so to evil cannot overcome agape love. The intent of transformation through and by resurrection life is simply to produce agape love for God and neighbor within our hearts and minds.

The presence of agape love in our lives is the measurement with which we can examine ourselves to see if and how deeply we are in the faith.

2 Cor 13:4-5 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him in our dealing with you. (5) Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?

The test that measures Christ is in us is that of expressed love. Is your life characterized by the following descriptions of love? These characteristics are the yardstick with which to examine ourselves.

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self control. ...

1 Cor 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Col 3:12-14 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (13) Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (14) And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

The production of agape love as the end result of taking up our cross and following Jesus and so passing from death to life is so profound, that it is by this that we may know that we are saved. It is by the presence of agape love that we know that Christ is in us. The following passages should comfort us with the assurance of salvation based on Christ being in us as confirmed by the presence of agape love.

1 Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed over from death to life because we love the brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.

1 Jn 4:12-13 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us and his love is perfected in us. (13) By this we know that we reside in him and he in us: that he has given us of his Spirit.

Christ in you, is your hope of glory!

The Law Written on our Hearts

In the days of Jeremiah, a prophecy was given in which God declared that He would make a New Covenant. In this declaration, Jeremiah recorded that the law of God would be written on our hearts and in our minds.

Jer 31:31-33 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. (32) It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. (33) "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

What does it mean to have the law written on our hearts and minds? What form does this take? Was this a new concept, with the time prior to the New Covenant being a time when the law was written in ink and stone rather than in hearts and minds, and read and obeyed rather than internalized and obeyed?

Jesus Discusses Anger and Lust

In this famous passage from the Sermon on the Mount, it would appear that Jesus is expanding the scope of the 10 Commandments to include thoughts within the scope of all of the law. He calls out anger as an example and places thoughts within the scope of the command, "You shall not murder".

Mat 5:21-22 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' (22) But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Notice the words "and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment". What had happened to the people is they had been trying to obey the "letter" of the law, lest in their disobedience they would be judged and punished for breaking it; "anyone who murders will be subject to judgment". They were following the law through rote action to avoid judgment, but forgetting the intent of the law was to be obeyed through a heart change. The passage "anyone who murders will be subject to judgment" was not part of the law, but had been added by "people long ago".

Is Jesus expanding the scope of the law, or is He reminding the people of what the commands of that law had been all along? Notice this passage from Leviticus:

Lev 19:17-18 "'Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. (18) "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

In this passage we can see that according to the law from the beginning, anger, revenge and grudges were always considered a part of the command "You shall not murder". Obedience should have come from a godly heart, not a fear of judgment. The ordinance governing the heart had been in place all along, and is here written as "love your neighbor as yourself".

We see the same thing in Jesus' discourse on lust. The command was never about just avoiding adultery, it was always about the change of heart as a part of loving your neighbor as yourself.

Pro 6:25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

Jesus was not expanding, upping, or making the law harder to keep. He was reminding the people that all of the law had always governed the heart.

The Law was Always For Our Hearts and Minds

Consider these passages that qualify all of the law under the Old Covenant. Clearly from the very beginning, all of the law was to be written on our hearts.

Deu 4:9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Deu 6:6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

Deu 11:18-20 "And you shall put these, my words, on your heart and on your inner self, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be as an emblem between your eyes. (19) And you shall teach them to your children by talking about them when you sit in your house and when you travel on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. (20) And you shall write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates,

Pro 3:1-3 My child, do not forget my instruction, and may your heart guard my commands. (2) For length of days, years of life, and peace they shall add to you. (3) May loyal love and truth not forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them upon your heart.

Pro 7:1-3 My child, guard my sayings; store my commandments with you. (2) Keep my commands and live, and my teaching like the apple of your eye. (3) Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

From these passages we can see the evidence that Jesus was not changing the law to include thoughts, the thoughts of our hearts were always a part of all of the law from the time it was first given. What Jesus was reminding them of was that the fulfillment of the law was to be found in the heart, and that fulfillment was drawing near.

Who is the Writer

Jeremiah declared that under the New Covenant: "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.". In light of the fact that the law was to have been written on our hearts from the beginning, as shown above, what was the new revelation that the New Covenant was bringing to pass?

In the passages above, notice who the writer is. God is instructing the PEOPLE to write the laws on their own hearts. Consider these instructions given to the people in just these five verses:

Don't let them fade from your heart
Impress them on your children
Talk about them
Tie them as symbols on your hands
Bind them on your foreheads
Write them on the doorframes
Put them on your hearts and inner self
Bind them as a sign on your hand
Teach them to your children
Write them on your doorframes (again)
May your heart guard them
Bind them around your neck
Write them on your heart
Store my commandments with you
Bind them on your fingers
Write them on the tablet of your heart

It is quite clear that the writer of the law under the Old Covenant is the individual PERSON. God is commanding each individual person to do the writing, binding and tying to their own hearts. Clearly the efforts of writing falls on the individual under the Old Covenant.

Now reread Jeremiah 31:33

Jer 31:33 "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

How then do we reconcile God telling us that under the New Covenant that the law would be written on our hearts and minds, something that should have been done from the beginning? What is this passage actually saying?

The glory of the New Covenant can be found not only in what is being written on the hearts and minds, but in WHO is doing the writing. Under the New Covenant, God tells us that HE will write the law on our hearts and in our minds. It will no longer be left to the individual to do the writing, but Jesus through the Holy Spirit Himself will do the writing. Note this collaborating passage from Ezekiel:

Eze 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Notice again in this passage from Ezekiel speaking of the coming New Covenant. It says that HE will give us a new heart, HE will put a new Spirit in us, HE will give us a heart of flesh, HE will put His Spirit in us, and HE will move us.

The writer to Hebrews collaborates this when he quotes the declaration of the Lord when He says "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts".

Heb 8:10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Heb 10:16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."

The great change in the covenants between the Old and the New is that the writing of the law on our hearts and minds will no longer be left to us, but Jesus through the Holy Spirit will do the writing.

The connection between the coming of the Holy Spirit and the declaration that God will now do the writing is unmistakably clear. The Holy Spirit is the writer now, and it is no longer left to our own strength and power.

What is Being Written

All of this begs the question, what did God mean when He said He would write His law on our hearts and minds. Did He mean that the complete Mosaic Law would be transcribed into our hearts and minds somehow and that we would still need to keep the ordinances? Is the fulfilled state of the law different than the unfulfilled state? How can we know if the law is being written on our hearts and minds?

The evidence of what is written in our hearts and minds is easier to see then the actual writing taking place. Let's look at the evidence of the law written on our hearts and minds first.

2 Cor 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Paul was telling the Corinthian believers that they were showing that they were a "letter from Christ" based on what was written "on tablets of human hearts" by the "Spirit of the living God". So here we have evidence that the New Covenant was in place at this time, since the person who was doing the writing had changed from the individual person, to the living God.

What is it that the Corinthians were "showing" that lead Paul to say that they were "letters from Christ"?

Love expressed is clearly the end goal of all of the law. Regardless of who does the writing, whether the people were under the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, the intent of the law was to bring change to the heart and mind with the end goal of making expressed love the preeminent and godly characteristic of mankind.

The law from the beginning was to love God and love your neighbor. Matthew recorded that all of the law contained within these two commands. The 10 Commandments bear this out, as the first 4 command us to love God, and the last 6 command us to love our neighbor:

Mat 22:37-40 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' (38) This is the first and greatest commandment. (39) And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (40) All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Jesus was quoting two passages from Deuteronomy and Leviticus:

Deu 6:5-6 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (6) These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.


Lev 19:18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

It seems clear that what Jesus is saying is that the evidence of "law keeping" is completely revealed in love for God, and love for neighbor.

Rom 10:4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

The word translated "culmination" in the NIV is "tello", it means "the point aimed at as a limit, or the conclusion of an act or state". Compare "culmination" with the word translated "instruction" from the Hebrew word "yarah" in Exodus 24:12:

Exo 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction."

"yarah" means to teach, instruct, inform "figuratively to point out (as if by aiming the finger)". Interestingly, the word "Torah" has a very similar meaning. The law, indeed the entire Torah was pointing to something else, and that something else was ultimately Christ, through whom the the law in it's fulfilled state would finally be written on our hearts.

The result of the law being written in our heart, it's fulfillment, what it was pointing at, that in which the culmination was Christ, was love of God and love of neighbor. This love was by Christ through the Holy Spirit as declared in the New Covenant by HIM doing the writing on our hearts.

In this way, we can see that through Christ's "culmination" of the law, all of the commands of the New Covenant are to keep the law in it's FULFILLED state of agape love poured out on our hearts.

Under the Old Covenant, love was to be expressed through our efforts at internalizing the law into our own hearts, and by it being changed into a person who accurately reflected God's loving nature. Under the New Covenant, love is "agape", love planted in our heart by divine revelation and poured out in action towards God and neighbor.

Rom 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The fulfillment of the law is agape love. Agape love is that love which is planted within us by divine revelation, and which then flows outwards to God and our neighbors by it's very nature. The divine revelation of agape love is the fulfilled law, written into our hearts.

When love is expressed with actions and truth, it has a specific nature, primarily, it is a love felt by the recipients, the recipients being reasonable people. This love in truth and action is described for us in several passages:

1 Jn 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Cor 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Col 3:12-14 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (13) Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (14) And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Therefore, keeping the law and the commands of God under the New Covenant are specifically understood to be the law in it's fulfilled state of agape love which is poured into our hearts. If Christ had not fulfilled the law, then we would still be trying to internalize the law under our own strength and power as was the case under the Old Covenant. That is the context for the following passages:

Rom 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

Rom 13:10 Love does not commit evil against a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Gal 5:14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

How is it Being Written

In the following verses we read that we become Christ like as the Holy Spirit makes us new, transforms us, and regenerates us through washing and renewal by His cleansing interaction with our mind and heart. This transformation and regeneration is the process of writing happening on our hearts.

Under the Old Covenant, change was commanded by God through the instruction to obey the law written in ink. Under the New Covenant, Christ brings regeneration and we change, that is the process of the fulfilled law being written on our heart by the Spirit.

2 Cor 3:6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Eph 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; (23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds; (24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Tit 3:4-6 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, (5) he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, (6) whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Thus, that which is doing the writing under the New Covenant is the Holy Spirit. The "pen" is rebirth, renewal, transformation, all of which lead to the presence of agape love in our hearts.

Conclusion

One of the primary factors distinguishing between the Old and New Covenants is who the writer of our hearts and minds is. Under the Old, we are commanded to be the writer, and under the New, the Holy Spirit is the writer.

Both the Old and the New Covenant law commands us to love God and love our neighbor. The Old Covenant Mosaic Law commanded us as individuals to do that, the New Covenant commands us to allow the Holy Spirit to do that through us.

While the Mosaic Law pointed at love, the Holy Spirit IS love. The writing in our hearts is not of the letter of the law which pointed at love, but of the Spirit who IS love.

When the writers of the New Testament speak of keeping the "commands" of God, they are speaking not of the law written in ink, but the fulfilled law. If Jesus fulfilled all of the law, then the commands we are told to keep under the New Covenant are those of the law in it's fulfilled state, that which the law pointed at, agape love.

Remember that "Torah", and "instruction" are both translated from Hebrew words meaning "to point towards, as if by pointing the finger" at a greater thing, such as godly character from the heart. The law was unable to produce godly character from the heart even though that is what the Israelites were commanded to do. Jesus however, was able to be a man of perfect godly character, thus fulfilling the law, and has subsequently come to live in us and by His work in us produce godly character in us Himself. Through Christ in us, we are able to realize the fulfillment of the law in us through agape love.

So there should be no confusion about what law is being written on our hearts and minds, and what we are to keep. It is the law in it's fulfilled nature, agape love, poured into us. Consider just a few of the passages that make this perfectly clear, from the perspective that "love" in the verses below is that agape love which God pours into and writes onto our hearts:

John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

2 Jn 1:5-6 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. (6) And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Note: The command was not new in that we have always had the command to love God and one another. But it IS new in respect to it's fulfilled nature and source, agape, love given by divine revelation.

John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

John 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.

Rom 12:10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Eph 5:1-2 Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children (2) and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

1 Pe 4:8-9 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (9) Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

1 Jn 3:22-23 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. (23) And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

1 Jn 4:21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

The Law Fulfilled by Love

This is a summary outline of the progression of the Law from written to love expressed.

The Law (written Mosaic Law) was Temporary:

Gal 3:24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.
Luk 16:16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. ....
Gal 3:19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. ....

The Reason the Law Was Temporary is Because:

Gal 2:19 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
Gal 3:11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because "the righteous will live by faith."
Gal 3:12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, "The person who does these things will live by them."

Therefore......

Heb 8:13 By calling the covenant new, He has declared the old obsolete and near to disappearing.

This is the specific declaration of New Covenant law, supported by a library of collaborative scripture.....

1 John 3:23 "And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us."

This Love is the Called For Fulfillment of the Law In Mat_5:17:

Rom 13:10 Love does not commit evil against a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Rom 8:4 in order that the requirement of the law would be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Rom 10:4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

The Death of Jesus Accomplished Everything Per Mat_5:18:

John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Faith Expressed as Love is the only thing that counts:

Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.